The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised Bola Tinubu’s recent appointments, describing them as an attempt to regain the trust of Northern Nigerians after over years of “neglect.”
ADC in a statement issued on by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the move amounted to “political panic management,” rather than sincere efforts at national inclusion.
“You cannot marginalise a region for over twenty-five months and expect applause because you suddenly remembered on the twenty-sixth month that Nigeria is bigger than Lagos State,” the statement read.
The ADC accused the administration of calculated neglect, saying the North had been systematically sidelined from critical decision-making since the inception of the Tinubu presidency.
“For over a year, this government turned a blind eye as bandits terrorised villages in the North, as our farmers abandoned their land, and as rural economies crumbled under the weight of poorly thought-out fuel subsidy removal.
“Now, under the rising heat of public discontent, and with the emergence of a formidable opposition coalition gaining traction in the North and across the country, Tinubu suddenly remembers that there are Nigerians to appoint into positions outside his Lagos,” the party stated.
The ADC argued that every major policy and appointment under the current administration had occurred with minimal Northern representation, stressing that recent gestures were nothing more than “consolation prizes.”
“But Northerners, as co-owners of our great federal republic, know better than to be deceived by these token appointments.
“They see through Tinubu’s actions — and can sense that this is not genuine. Tokenism is not inclusion, and symbolism is not governance,” the ADC said.
The party also called on Tinubu to abandon what it termed “Bourdillon-style appeasement politics,” and instead pursue genuine national unity through broad-based consultation, policy fairness, and adherence to the principles of federal character.
“You cannot patch a broken roof with press releases and photo-ops. And you certainly cannot restore the trust that you have lost with the public by pretending that titles are a substitute for genuine commitment to nation-building,” ADC stated.
